Whatever the case, the video supposedly features a general chat with Tim about four-and-a-half minutes in, discussing things such as programming in the Amiga days. But more interestingly, Jace claims to “take a first look at the newest [Brutal Legend] build”, which might mean we get to see some brand new gameplay footage.

By all means try the video and leave a comment if you can get it to play!

Update

[April 18th, 2009 at 1:52pm GMT] If you’re outside the US, the video probably won’t play as it is indeed region locked. I got in touch with Jace and he recommends using UltraSurf, which I successfully did. It takes seconds to install and works out the box, routing your web traffic through one of their US servers — give it a go if you want to see the footage.

Update #2

[April 19th, 2009 at 6:47pm GMT+1] I’ve taken screenshots of the new things shown in the video, such as a bum-headed creature and the wall of amps. The quality is pretty much the best I can get as there really isn’t much shown, and whatever there is was taken with a handheld camcorder. Still, check them out.

Adding further credibility to the heavy rumours that Brutal Legend is getting a Wii version is the latest issue of Nintendo Power’s interview with Jennifer Hale, who you might know better as Naomi Hunter or one of the other billion things she’s done voice acting for:

Voice actor Jennifer Hale is totally working on Brutal Legend, but Nintendo Power doesn’t want to name names for some reason. In the interview with Hale, NP describes her current project as “a game featuring Jack Black written by Tim Schafer.” Jennifer herself, responding to a question about standout game scripts, says “One I worked on written by Tim Schafer (don’t know if I’m free to say the name of the game yet): fantastic, funny and so cool.”

Brutal Legend coming out on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is obviously no secret, but Nintendo Power’s avoidance of naming the game definitely implies they have some kind of secrecy order slapped on them. Following the leaked publishing schedule and Variety’s sources, my gut feeling at this point is that we can call the Wii version ‘confirmed’.

Well, the blog is pretty much it for the time being. But that’s still well worth visiting for in itself, so be sure to get over there and subscribe away! They also have a new newsletter which is reputed to deliver the most brutal goodies ever right to your inbox.

Following on from the earlier GoNintendo report about Brutal Legend being slated for a Wii release, the internet has been abuzz for a few days after an ambiguous reply by Tim Schafer when asked whether or not it’s actually coming: “We are making an Xbox 360 and a PS3 version of Brutal Legend“.

Proving itself as a fairly reliable source several times now, Variety has gone ahead and said the Wii version is definitely coming after questioning several of its own sources. Apparently the Wii version won’t be developed by Double Fine — similarly to how the PlayStation 2 version of Psychonauts wasn’t — and will probably come out a good while later.

It’s quite probable the Wii will struggle with the sheer scope of Brutal Legend, though. As we’ve learnt in the recent previews, it’s an open world game; battles can have around 80 units on screen; and it has a pretty serious multiplayer offering — in fact, Schafer says they developed the multiplayer before the single-player game.

During the interview, Schafer sums up why even those who aren’t really into metal will still love Brutal Legend:

“Every little detail, every interaction, has some reward for the player, and I think that is important […] Monkey Island wasn’t for people who just love pirates, and Full Throttle was not just for bikers. It’s that we use the lore of pirates and the lore of bikers to create a world that is unique.”

IGN has been handling the preview side of things, which reveals numerous details such as how the game begins, how various mechanics work, and also a little mention of the elusive multiplayer. However, be warned that this preview does detail the opening experience of the game, so if you’d rather it be a surprise you’re advised not to read this.

The guitar will be capable of unleashing a broad variety of attacks, including the Earthshaker for messing up the environment and the Relic Raiser for raising ancient artefacts

The main world spans about 64 square kilometres

The primary way of progressing seems to be comparable to games like Fable 2, where you can go to missions and then choose to take them on at your leisure

Larger encounters in the game will be up to around 40 versus 40

One of the multiplayer modes will be called ‘Battle of the Bands’

Update

[April 3rd, 2009 at 9:41pm GMT+1] Various other previews have started appearing throughout the day, so keep an eye on the Community Tracker if you’re interested in them. Particularly noteworthy is that one reveals Eddie’s car to have a radio, loaded with an extensive library of quality metal.

That kind of answers a long-standing mystery about how exactly the music will be integrated with the game, with Peter McConnell who did the music for past Tim Schafer classics like Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, and Psychonauts presumably handling the more compositional stuff during the missions and cutscenes.